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The Ledgers of Baldr: 4E375-4E407
Actions Derult After being blindsided by a dwarven invasion force, Central declares Derult to be in a state of "unsatisfactory military preparedness". Sabotage efforts on the part of Stavengar have revealed a vulnerability in the military rail lines. At the advisement of Derult's top general, a new standard is developed for "war-gauge" rail lines, which are farther apart and much thicker (military tech x2). In addition, factory orders increase in an effort to double the size of the Derultian armed forces (raise army x2). GOLD SPENT Hall of the Five Gojac opens his journal to scribe the end of the Final Dragon War for posterity. While flipping through the pages, he reads a few of his older entries. ". 15-31-2186: Had a drinking contest with Rucahn. Rucahn quit after 3 tankards. Sorry bastard. . 28-26-2187: The Shrine Titan did coke with me again. We ended up sleeping together. I'd forgotten they had genitals. . 25-7-2188: I think I'll let Kellus handle the whole gonorrhea thing. He's the powerful one anyway. I'm just the old one. . 11-11-2190: Apparently Death lost his powers a couple of weeks ago. I was pretty gone, not surprised I didn't notice. " Gojac reads in horror what he has become. "What have I become?" He asks himself. He moves all of his cocaine, alcohol, and pixieshit into his hedonism hut and burns it. When the fire dies out he changes into dirty laborer clothes and wanders Liosa in a soul-searching journey. (1: Expand) Garma has been caring for the animals of Ahazuara ever since her previous wards died in the plague. It's not the same, though. She misses having conversations with the citizens and explaining matters of the states to her critics. It made her quite popular. The only thing her animals don't have that the citizens did is proper souls. They have minor souls, though. Wasn't there an old story about an old general upgrading a whole bunch of minor souls and nearly getting executed for it? Wait. Garma stops walking. That wasn't a story, that was history. General Urmston uplifting the dragons to stop the slaughter. The "Treasonous Kindness". Garma's more powerful than an old warmage. She looks at the herd of gazelles following her. The gazelles look at her expectantly. They look hungry and dumb. Well, not for much longer. (2: culture) Kellus is quite disappointed. All his life, the dragons have been the foes to his countless wars. When he was a child, he and Kazor would play dragons and wizards. Actually, they would spend most of their time fighting over who would be the dragons. They often got a younger kid to play the dragons and then spend several hours beating and humiliating the poor kid before his parents showed up. Now, with the dragons under Five-Rule, there's no more chieftains to plot against, no more soldiers to waste on the battlefield, and no more shit to talk. The more Kellus reminisces, the more he misses the dragon chiefs. Under the cover of night, he builds a statue of each of the dragon chiefs, from Tornwing the Sorrowful to R'in Santi the Defeated. The statue of Chimeryx the Proud gets special attention. Under the cover of night, of course. He blames the statues on Ignati zealots, but doesn't ever take them down. If the other Four were to find out, he'd be mortified. (3: Culture) During the day Kellus sets up a government for Ignis. For the most part, it's a fair and democratic system. The people shouldn't hate him TOO much. Of course, the phrase "No gods but Dragonborn" is punishable by public execution. He couldn't just let that one slide. Rucahn has been content to see all for a long time. But he doesn't really see all the way people think he does. People think he's always watching everything, but it's really hard to focus on everything at once. The best he can do is read a light novel while keeping an eye on a city or two. If he really focuses, sure he can check up on events around the world, but it's not true omniscience. More of superscience or telescience, really. Nothing quite so grand. Well, Rucahn wants omniscience. True omniscience, like the old God of the Sun. With nothing else to do for a year, he devotes all of his time to obtaining true omniscience. (4: *) Ashelani As the sun rises on the shore of Ardunne, Queen Torol is filled with confusion. Something was wrong. Seemingly overnight, the drones had begun moving to new tasks, the soldiers realigning into new divisions, and she could not hear her protoqueens. Had her sister beaten her? No... she would have noticed if Scholus was making such a move. This was different. This was stronger. *You have been foolish child.* The voice echoed through her skull, a voice she had not heard for a hundred years. *You think yourself so mighty that you might usurp me? You are not queen. I am the Firstmother. I AM the Hive.* Len-Torol shivered. Since she had claimed the title of queen, she had always thought the opposition pulling against her was her sister, vying for control over the Ashelani. But the words in her head rung true. The hive was organizing itself against her will. *Firstmother, how have you done this? What might I-this one do to serve the Hive?* *You will do as you were once commanded. I am far from you, daughter. You must continue to produce the soldiers and the drones, and daughters of your own to serve and expand the Hive. You must appease the Brightprince and protect the Hive. When the time comes, you too shall become part of the Hivemind.* Len-Scholus lies wilted upon the ground. Her lab in shambles, the drones slowly start to repair the destruction left during her frenzy. How could it be true? Death was supposed to liberate her, to give her the freedom only queens could have. Yet now not even a single drone obeyed her. But even as she tried to rebel, she felt an overwhelming curiosity growing at the back of her mind. A pressure was building, urging her to forget her troubles and go back to researching the wyrdium. Feeling her will crumbling, she moves back to her bench and begins to work. (Culture Roll Bonus x4) Mu'lakka After the brokering of the alliance between their peoples, Kal'rog sees to his people packing up their things from the small territory of Mu'Liosa and putting them a little closer to home on the islands between Liosa and Mu'lakka. (1:Relocation/Expansion +5) Following the free border policies of the alliance, flyers are found on buildings across the lands of Mu'lakka advertising the beauties of Liosa, offering bundles on travel and accommodations at reasonable prices. Similar flyers pop up in the lands of Five-rule, with grand images of airships and island vistas. (2: Tourism/income) Librarians in the Mu'lakkan archives have notoriously had difficulty keeping track of where they put things. A small detachment resolve to figure out some way to organize all of the documents stored over the years so it can be retrieved easier for future use. (3: Research Research) In a small cottage on the coast of Manuk, a mysterious man settles in. He is known to the townsfolk only as A'amilne, and is a queer fellow who keeps to himself, only going out bundled up in several layers of cloaks. He does seem to enjoy the company of children, though, and word of mouth quickly spreads around the young population of Til'sin of the lonesome storyteller and his magical tales. (4: Culture) Stavengar The scholars of the Eir-i, having discovered that wyrdium allowed for awareness of ley lines, begin to go out across the lands of Stavengar, mapping out the ley lines, for use in empowering their anti-Hunger wards. (150 wealth, +5, 1. Hunger research). Dwarven metallurgists begin to create alloys of wyrdium, having discovered that very small amounts of wyrdium, encased in Silef and located on a ley line, began to begin construction of the Hunger wards. (Invest 300 wealth, +5 to actions 2 & 3, Hunger). {make that 150 on the 2nd action if the loan takes too long}. Finally, Consul Stavrakios personally oversees the placement of the Jorostiarn, the Hunger wards, deploying them on the borders, and starting first in the north. (4, Hunger stopper). Kaz'ur In the wake of the death of Abdid-ibn-al-Walid, all of Kaz'ur mourns. For sixty days and sixty nights, the whole of the nation dons black robs instead of the customary white, and night-fires burn to honor the loss of their greatest hero. Tired after almost two-hundred years of continuous service, the Sawmanji proclaims his intent to resign from the council, spending the remainder of his days with his living relations, to enjoy his old age. This represents the first time in the history of Kaz'ur that any member of the council has willingly stepped down, and there is much debate between the remainders as to who should fill the void. Eventually, the council decides to name the former apprentice of Abdid, Jasura, the new Sawmanji. As the new military leader of Kaz'ur, her first actions are the establishment of a grand military academy to add on to the academy of magic. Named in honor of Abdid, the old Sawmanji, Ikram, has agreed to- tentatively- head this new body of learning. (1-2, Military Tech Research Bonus). Mutammam and Thaamira have not left the academy for over three months now. Since their return from Liosa the two have spent all of their time examining the Sword of the Father. While it was previously theorized that the runes inscribed upon the blade where magical in nature- accounting for the strength of the blade and it's remarkably keen edge for a stone weapon- the two Ashik magi believe this represents only a fraction of the blades power. It's time on Liosa seems to have sparked something within the sword, and the two believe they are but days away from a breakthrough.... (3-4, Magic/Military +2 to research) Legaros The Legarosan Naval Command, after seeing the flying machines that so terrified the populace, has decided that they are behind the technological curve, and thus decide to improve their ships. While studying the inner workings of a disabled Derultian, scientists hit upon the idea of a wood/oil powered bladed screw, turning underwater, propelling the vessel forward. (Naval Research 1+2) Rumors of a dwarven massacre in the central section of the continent have spread, and the public has remembered that Legaros supported these dwarves. Fearful of a mechanical reprimand, a large mob convinces the High Admiral to put out a recruitment call, and once more raise a Legaran fleet. (Raise Fleet 3) Jola had been a devout follower of the Almighty Lord Basoferyx for his entire life, all sixteen years of it. Just the same as his father, and his father before him. However, as he had not been seen since, well, since the end of the cursed days, people everywhere were starting to turn away from their glorious leader, and look to these newfangled "fungal lords". Determined not to let the people around him be burned by the glorious execution squad, Jola decided to break into the Emperors Mansion, and ask the leader to quiet these heretical non-believers. This, in retrospect, was a bad call. Jola reflected on this as the vessel he was on bounced upon the waves. He had barely made it into the building before he was swarmed, and the shadowy human in the emperors room had given him a choice: Serve, or die. And thus, here he was, thousands of leagues from home, looking for a big-ass fish to kill. (Fishing industry/Income 4) Results: Robot Tom Sawyerland: 1, 9, 9, 3 Disaster in Irontown—a train bearing coolant cycling systems, which are needed in the production of soldier-type Derultians, was hijacked by an outlaw gang and driven off the railway tracks into a gorge. By the time the lawmen had arrived, two thirds of the cargo had been airlifted out by eagle riders, and in the ensuing shootout, two lawmen and six outlaws were deactivated. The coolant cycling systems have since turned up on the black market at a vastly inflated price. Without the parts from the train, the production of soldiers has been severely delayed, and one of the twin factories in Irontown has been shut down due to inefficiency (you lose your military research bonus until you successfully recruit an army). Production of the war gauge railway tracks has proven to be a problem as well, and no progress is made (-60 wealth). My Favorite Nation: 7, 7, 2, 23 Gojac’s soul-searching journey is brought to a halt when he is just outside the boundaries of Five-rule. Realizing that burning his things as a gesture of his commitment was meaningless because he can simply conjure more alcohol and drugs on a whim, Gojac proceeds to do just that. A few days later Garma finds him curled up on her doorstep in the fetal position, crying about the way things used to be (-10 wealth). The Sustainer finds that elevating the forest animals to a higher plane of conscious thought is actually absurdly difficult, and she is quite frustrated with the whole ordeal. Part of her frustration stems from the fact that ever since that morning, Gojac has been living in her castle and making a mess of things. Kellus has even less success with his secret pet project—and for the first time ever, wishes that he had Gojac’s set of powers. It would be much easier for him to simply conjure up statues than it would be for him to Alter solid blocks of stone into statues. Stone was a material that was strangely resistant to Alteration, he had learned, unlike metal or wood. He has tried Altering air into stone statues, but the resulting products are always very flimsy and filled with visible bubbles and deformations on the surface. Rucahn has now attained omniscience. Isaac has written his own post for this, so I’ll let him put it up. The Halls of the Five can no longer be surprise attacked. Not-Tyranids: 1, 2, 8, 9 u juss suck a tbuildan cukture rolbonuses, fite me irl faget I daer u Sea Jews: 19, 18, 2, 11 The majority of the ethnic Mu’lakkan population of Mu’Liosa has opted to stay within the territory and continue their lives under Five-rule. Conversion to the official worship of the Five is widespread among those that remain. Around forty percent of the inhabitants make their way south across the sea to the homeland, and they are relocated by your government to distant shores of unsettled islands (+7 expansion, -160 wealth). Tourism among religious pilgrims to the ancient lands of Ahazhuara has livened up the dreary place considerably. A single moderately wealthy Mu’lakkan tourist can rent an entire ruined Ahazhuaran castle (the surrounding empty town costs extra) as a time-share (+5 income). Research into library archival systems goes slowly—your people have no real concept of a repository of written work—writing in Mu’lakka is still a rather rudimentary system to keep record of business transactions. A’amilne’s stories capture the hearts of the children of his little town, and he is somewhat well known on Manuk, although on the islands few Mu’lakkans have heard of him. On your eastern borders, your explorers are coming into contact with the Hunger. Entire towns are being evacuated back towards the west, and the black fungus surges into your nation’s borders unabated, growing over walled fortresses and amphitheatres and statues and spewing clouds of toxic spores into the sky (-5 income). Original Dwarfs, Do Not Steal: 29, 22, 24, 21 In the largest expenditure of public wealth ever recorded, greater even than the triumphant mustering of Chimeryx’s host in the Sixth Dragon War, the sort-of-magic leyline-preserving technology manages to stop the Hunger in its tracks through a hearty helping of geographical jargon, pseudoscience, fuzzy mathematics, and good old dwarfish mysticism. Jihad-lovin’ Golems: 6, 3, 2, 12 The academy is constructed, but due to budget constraints, the university grounds are rather sparse. Many would-be officers in your military prefer to go to any one of the several Reich-based private military schools in Al Kerouine. The Sword of the Father’s physical properties have changed ever so slightly, so slight as to be almost unnoticeable, but there is the unmistakable air of magic about it. The blade bears black notches, where, according to legend, Abdid crossed swords with Death himself. Mutammam and Thaamira are at odds as to what to do with the sword, with the male twin insistent that such a precious family heirloom must not be subjected to magical experiments—the sword is, after all—the only trace the family has left of its patriarch. Attempts to call Abdid’s soul back from the Aether and into a new body have been unsuccessful—the great hero is gone for good, it seems. Without he brother’s knowledge, Thaamira has stolen away with the sword and is studying it in secrecy (2 more successes). The One With Dromand in It: 1, 3, 19, 12 The Hunger has finally reached your domain. Reports from your envoys state that the hostile fungus is also ravaging Mu’Manuk to the north (-6 income). The research into rotary-powered warships, to be blunt, is a spectacular failure, akin to the time when Legaros tried to take to the air. As the twelve prototype ships leave the harbor, they bump into one another comically, and the drills bore holes in the siding of the boats, sinking four of them. The remaining ships sputter about pathetically—the drills on the hulls make it hard to steer. A few crash into the rocks on the bay, one goes backwards and runs aground on the beachhead, ramming into the dock, and the rest either scatter in random directions or twirl around in circles (your next military research roll will only succeed on a 17 or higher). For some unknown reason, after this occurrence, naval recruitment rates increase, and a new fleet is able to be mustered (-10 income). Many skeptics argue that an attack from Derult would come by land, and not by sea, and that building a navy offers no defense at all. These respected military strategists are quietly imprisoned. Jola sits inside one-man cabin of his tiny Mu’lakkan clipper vessel. The rain is pouring down in sheets, and he has had to roll up a tarp over the top of the boat to prevent it from flooding, and take down the mast so that the ship won’t be blown about. By lantern light, He flips through the book of Mu’lakkan sea legends that he has brought with him. A great fish has been said to lurk in this part of the sea—in the southern straits of Manuk. Impossibly vast, and, like all Mu’lakkan legendary creatures, perpetually angry at humans. The old tales refer to this fish as “The Big Kahuna.” Jola bides his time, sipping from a wooden jug of cold tea as the rain patters off the tarp over the hull. Six raw cow shanks are lashed to the bottom of his vessel. The Big Kahuna will come, Jola thinks, and when it does, he will be ready for it (2 more successes). Category:The Ledgers of Baldr